UF faces Tigers' new tempo

Florida guard Scottie Wilbekin dribbles against LSU guard Anthony Hickey in the Gators' 76-64 win over the Tigers at the O'Dome on Jan. 21, 2012, in Gainesville. The Gators are on the road in Baton Rouge to face the Tigers today.

The LSU team that Florida faces in its first Southeastern Conference road game this afternoon will not resemble the one that it has seen the past four seasons.

First-year LSU coach Johnny Jones has installed a pressing, up-tempo style that has netted some promising early results. The Tigers rank fifth in the SEC in scoring offense (76 points per game), second in assists (16.1 apg) and fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (36.1 percent).

“They are an explosive offensive team, one of the highest scoring teams in our league,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “They shoot it and they are really good off the bounce with their guards.”

When Trent Johnson unexpectedly left LSU last spring to take over the head coaching job at TCU, LSU turned to a favorite son. Jones, hired away from North Texas, was a former LSU guard who played on two Final Four teams from 1981-85. Jones also served as an assistant coach at LSU from 1988-97 under his mentor and former coach, Dale Brown.

Johnson played more of a physical, plodding style at LSU that relied on dumping the ball into the post. But Johnson also left Jones some pieces to work with, including sophomore point guard Anthony Hickey, junior guard Andre Stringer and sophomore former McDonald’s All-American center Johnny O’Bryant III.

Jones said he feels like his players have embraced a more up-tempo attack.

“It’s definitely a process, but I’ve been very fortunate to have some guys on the team that I think the style that we play, it’s been very good for,” Jones said. “Anthony Hickey is extremely good in the open floor and loves to push the basketball, and we’ve been fortunate to recruit a few other guys I think it’s benefited as well.”

It’s a similar transition that Donovan took Florida through in his first season as UF head coach in 1996. Under prior coach Lon Kruger, the Gators played a more methodical, half-court offense in contrast to UF’s current run-and-gun style.

“Trent Johnson was a terrific coach,” Donovan said. “The way they played, they were very, very physical, the games were slowed down, they didn’t play as up-tempo. They really tried to pound you up front.

“I think LSU still carries some of those same traits because they’ve got a physical and big frontcourt. But in terms of the pace and speed of the way they are playing at now, it’s totally different than it was with Trent.”

Florida has proven it could handle defending different styles throughout its non-conference schedule. The Gators held up-tempo Marquette to 49 points and another running team, Middle Tennessee State, to 45 points.

Florida is coming off a 77-44 win over Georgia in its SEC opener Wednesday, holding the Bulldogs to 38.9-percent shooting from the floor. Junior forward Casey Prather made his first start of the season for the Gators and could start again because Erik Murphy (broken rib) and Will Yeguete (knee tendinitis) are dealing with injuries that are limiting them in practice.

But junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin was pleased with how the banged-up Gators responded to the challenge of playing their first SEC game.

“We kind of felt like we were getting back to how we were playing in the beginning of the year as far as taking pride in defense and really trying to stop the other team,” Wilbekin said. “And I think that’s something that will help us moving forward.”

Notes: Florida is 11-8 all-time against LSU under Billy Donovan. … The Gators rank fourth in the nation in scoring defense (52 ppg) and have held seven of 13 opponents under 50 points. … Senior Kenny Boynton (1,755 points) is 15 points shy of tying former teammate Erving Walker for fourth on UF’s all-time scoring list. … Florida made a season-high 12 3-pointers in its SEC opening 77-44 win over Georgia on Wednesday night. The Gators are shooting 48.8 percent (21-of-43) from 3-point range over their last two games. … LSU leads the SEC in steals at 10.8 per game. The Tigers are 8-0 at home this season.

<p>Same jerseys. Different style.</p><p>The LSU team that Florida faces in its first Southeastern Conference road game this afternoon will not resemble the one that it has seen the past four seasons. </p><p>First-year LSU coach Johnny Jones has installed a pressing, up-tempo style that has netted some promising early results. The Tigers rank fifth in the SEC in scoring offense (76 points per game), second in assists (16.1 apg) and fourth in 3-point shooting percentage (36.1 percent).</p><p>“They are an explosive offensive team, one of the highest scoring teams in our league,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “They shoot it and they are really good off the bounce with their guards.”</p><p>When Trent Johnson unexpectedly left LSU last spring to take over the head coaching job at TCU, LSU turned to a favorite son. Jones, hired away from North Texas, was a former LSU guard who played on two Final Four teams from 1981-85. Jones also served as an assistant coach at LSU from 1988-97 under his mentor and former coach, Dale Brown.</p><p>Johnson played more of a physical, plodding style at LSU that relied on dumping the ball into the post. But Johnson also left Jones some pieces to work with, including sophomore point guard Anthony Hickey, junior guard Andre Stringer and sophomore former McDonald's All-American center Johnny O'Bryant III.</p><p>Jones said he feels like his players have embraced a more up-tempo attack.</p><p>“It's definitely a process, but I've been very fortunate to have some guys on the team that I think the style that we play, it's been very good for,” Jones said. “Anthony Hickey is extremely good in the open floor and loves to push the basketball, and we've been fortunate to recruit a few other guys I think it's benefited as well.”</p><p>It's a similar transition that Donovan took Florida through in his first season as UF head coach in 1996. Under prior coach Lon Kruger, the Gators played a more methodical, half-court offense in contrast to UF's current run-and-gun style.</p><p>“Trent Johnson was a terrific coach,” Donovan said. “The way they played, they were very, very physical, the games were slowed down, they didn't play as up-tempo. They really tried to pound you up front. </p><p>“I think LSU still carries some of those same traits because they've got a physical and big frontcourt. But in terms of the pace and speed of the way they are playing at now, it's totally different than it was with Trent.”</p><p>Florida has proven it could handle defending different styles throughout its non-conference schedule. The Gators held up-tempo Marquette to 49 points and another running team, Middle Tennessee State, to 45 points.</p><p>Florida is coming off a 77-44 win over Georgia in its SEC opener Wednesday, holding the Bulldogs to 38.9-percent shooting from the floor. Junior forward Casey Prather made his first start of the season for the Gators and could start again because Erik Murphy (broken rib) and Will Yeguete (knee tendinitis) are dealing with injuries that are limiting them in practice.</p><p>But junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin was pleased with how the banged-up Gators responded to the challenge of playing their first SEC game.</p><p>“We kind of felt like we were getting back to how we were playing in the beginning of the year as far as taking pride in defense and really trying to stop the other team,” Wilbekin said. “And I think that's something that will help us moving forward.”</p><p><b>Notes:</b> Florida is 11-8 all-time against LSU under Billy Donovan. … The Gators rank fourth in the nation in scoring defense (52 ppg) and have held seven of 13 opponents under 50 points. … Senior Kenny Boynton (1,755 points) is 15 points shy of tying former teammate Erving Walker for fourth on UF's all-time scoring list. … Florida made a season-high 12 3-pointers in its SEC opening 77-44 win over Georgia on Wednesday night. The Gators are shooting 48.8 percent (21-of-43) from 3-point range over their last two games. … LSU leads the SEC in steals at 10.8 per game. The Tigers are 8-0 at home this season.</p><p><b>FLORIDA PROBABLE STARTERS</b></p><p>G Kenny Boynton, 6-2, Sr., 13.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg</p><p>G Mike Rosario, 6-3, Sr., 12.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg</p><p>G Scottie Wilbekin, 6-2, Jr., 8.2 ppg, 4.8 apg</p><p>F Casey Prather, 6-6, Jr., 6.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg</p><p>C Patric Young, 6-9, Jr., 10.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg</p><p><b>LSU PROBABLE STARTERS</b></p><p>G Andre Stringer, 5-10, Jr., 11.8 ppg, 2.1 apg</p><p>G Anthony Hickey, 5-11, So., 10.9 ppg, 3.3 apg</p><p>G Charles Carmouche, 6-4, Sr., 10.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg</p><p>F Johnny O'Bryant III, 6-9, So., 11.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg</p><p>C Andrew Del Piero, 7-3, Sr., 4.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg</p>